Battle of Mogadishu

The Battle of Mogadishu, also known as the Black Hawk Down Incident, was part of Operation Gothic Serpent. It was fought on 3–4 October 1993, in Mogadishu, Somalia, between forces of the United States—supported by UNOSOM II—against the forces of the Somali National Alliance and armed irregular citizens of south Mogadishu.

The battle was part of the two-year-old Somali Civil War. The United Nations had initially sent troops to alleviate starvation in the south of the country, but then began trying to establish democracy and restore a central government. In June 1993, U.N. peacekeepers suffered their deadliest day in decades when the Pakistani contingent was attacked while inspecting a Somali National Alliance weapons-storage site.